The ‘time to talk’ Countywide Conference 2013 offered Champions a day to learn, to celebrate their contributions and to share good practice.
Nabiah Sohail, (Speech and Language Therapist and Chair of the London Clinical Excellence Network for Bilingualism) presented about bilingualism and how to promote the benefits for children, families and communities. Nabiah spoke from her own perspective about the characteristics of bilingual conversation and provided research findings and theory that demonstrate the value for children of learning more than one language.
We held three workshops for practitioners to take part in discussions about:
- long term use of dummies and bottles – following these workshops, the ideas raised were used to create a new leaflet for Champions to share with parents.
- parents’ perspectives on the WellComm screening tool
- working with parents
There were displays of resources that Champions had created e.g. ‘talking tubs’ by Atherstone EY Centre.
We had a presentation from Guy Dartnell, a performance artist from ‘Oogly Boogly‘ about the concept of theatre for babies, the creation of the set (an inflatable tent!), the process of allowing the babies to direct the performers (who follow the babies’ lead) and how Champions might also be able to play the game in their settings.
We ended the day with a celebration of Champions’ achievements as noted by their managers. We are looking forward to welcoming Champions again for the 2014 ‘time to talk’ Conference.
‘time to talk’™ - Warwickshire 